The advent of intelligent telephony networks (“intelligent networks” or “IN”) has allowed telephony service providers to offer customers a wide range of telephony-related services. In effect, intelligent network architectures have overlaid telephony voice networks with a second, data network used to more efficiently control and monitor the voice network. In these intelligent networks, the signals required to set up, monitor, and take down calls in the circuit-switched, time division multiplexed (“TDM”) voice network have been implemented in a more efficient packet data network.
Although the early IN data networks were primarily used to control voice networks, the features of the IN data networks have allowed many telephony service providers to offer their customers (also called “service subscribers” or simply “subscribers” in this specification) telephony-related services which monitor and store various call-related information. One such service is commonly known as a “call log service” or as “call logging.” In addition, service providers are constantly seeking to develop and commercialize new services to satisfy customer desires and increase revenue.
The Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) architecture expands the potential of early intelligent networks and provides greater flexibility in creation and customization of telephony services for customers. Among other features, the AIN includes a set of standards governing intelligence in public networks which allow equipment manufacturers and service providers to design and develop custom services on various non-switch platforms that can interact with various telephony network nodes.
Specifications of the various releases of AIN specifications may be found in Bellcore AIN GR1299 Issue 6 and later editions, Bellcore AIN GR1298 Issue 6 and later editions, and related Bellcore standards (hereinafter “AIN Architecture Standards”). Bellcore was renamed Telcordia Technologies in 1999, and therefore the cited specifications and later editions may bear that name. The disclosures of the AIN Architecture Standards are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. Those skilled in the art will recognize other call signaling and control technologies compatible with the concepts of the present invention are comparable to the AIN and will be considered within the scope of the description and claims of the invention that follow.
Many subscriber telephony services are currently implemented on end office switches (“EO switches,” also called “end exchanges”). An end office is a type of central office that connects directly to customers and is where customer lines and trunks are interconnected. Subscriber telephony services may also be implemented in private branch exchanges (“PBXs”) operated as part of enterprise telephony networks. Throughout this specification, an EO switch shall be understood to mean a switch that provides services to subscribers, or end-users, of telecommunication services and shall include all switches implementing telephony services for subscribers that are capable of directly or indirectly interacting with an intelligent network. The EO switch may take on many different configurations but in most cases will at least provide voice-based communications in a circuit-switched, packet-switched, or wireless infrastructure. Nortel Networks' DMS-100 system is an example of an EO switch. Those of ordinary skill in the art will realize that other telephony network switches from Nortel Networks and other manufacturers, including those not located in a telephone service provider's “central office” or “end-office” may perform similar or comparable functions to the DMS-100 system and are equivalent.
Although there has been a proliferation of telephony services, service subscribers have typically had limited control over, and limited access to, these services and the call-related information associated with the services. In many cases, call-related information may only be accessed at telephony equipment terminating the access line on which the telephony service is provisioned. In addition, it is often necessary to purchase special equipment in order to use certain services or access call-related information.
For example, in implementing a call log service, an EO switch may collect and maintain a list of the calls attempted, calls completed, and calls made to a particular subscriber line. Many subscribers with analog “plain old telephone service” (“POTS”) lines and legacy telephone equipment may not be able to access the information stored by the call log service at all. Other subscribers may only be able to access the information if a telephony service provider has set up an interactive voice response (“IVR”) system that essentially “reads” call log information to subscribers over their telephone. Subscribers who have purchased telephone equipment using special protocols, such as the Analog Display Services Interface (“ADSI”) protocol, may be able to retrieve and view call log information using the small screen format of their special equipment, but only when the equipment terminates the line for which the service is provisioned.
In light of these limitations, there is a need for systems and methods that provide service subscribers with greater access to call-related information collected by telephony services. Furthermore, there is a need for service subscribers to access, from different devices and locations, call-related information collected by various telephony services. In addition, there is a need to provide enhanced service capability utilizing service information stored on network nodes.